Meet Sreya, our Training and Education Coordinator at Daily Bread Food Bank. As a member of the Programs & Services team, she creates new tools and workshops to help member agencies deliver their food programs and bolster their organizational development.
What does a typical day look like in your role?
I typically split my time between being in the Daily Bread offices or at a member agency delivering training. Part of my job is responding to a needs assessment that we conducted with our member agencies to determine the impact of existing training that we’ve offered and get a sense of what tools or resources agencies might be wanting more of to support their development. At a glance, I’m often preparing for whatever training will look like that week—whether that’s developing materials and creating tools and then physically presenting that material or facilitating workshops.
What do you enjoy most about the work that you do?
My favourite part of my role is facilitating training opportunities and connecting with member agencies. Food banks have such a commitment to providing food to whoever needs it and that commonality is a great linchpin to our conversations. From there, the training can unfold. Sometimes we have programs that are only a few blocks from each other and have existed for 25 years, and that time within the workshop is their first time interacting with each other. We have this wonderful opportunity to share best practices and create connections.
What has been your greatest professional achievement?
The publishing of a training calendar was a big recent one. I’ve seen the lifecycle of how something starts as a need and gets translated into knowledge, and to get to develop curriculum that supports that has been rewarding. To know we have a strong suite of training and new curriculum to back it, feels really satisfying. A strong curriculum reflects an organization’s priorities and we’ve ensured that these materials are aligned with Daily Bread’s mission, vision and values, and are providing our members with the conceptual and hard skills to better serve their communities.
What are your hobbies?
I spend most of my time running around after my dog. I also love to cook and experiment with new recipes. I’m Bangladeshi and I enjoy making dishes from scratch and having them taste like how my family would make them.
I recently moved to Hamilton and have been spending a lot of time exploring. I love all types of community programs, like walking tours or museum exhibits, especially if there’s a focus on queer history or food history, so that’s how I’ve been learning more about the city.
What are people often surprised to learn about you?
People are often surprised to learn that I love country music, and that I’m a huge Dolly Parton fan. I’ve been to Dollywood and have a tattoo of her.
If you could be any animal, which would you be?
I would be my dog, Stanley!
Thank you, Sreya, for your genuine passion and commitment to creating evidence-based training that supports our network of member agencies and food programs.
